Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Rant #536: Brady Bed Bugs

Yes, it is the middle of summer, and yes, it appears, at least right now, to be a very slow news day.

Not much to talk about ...

Unless you are Florence Henderson, erstwhile actress who will forever be known as the mother of the Brady brood on "The Brady Bunch" TV show.

In order to sell her memoir, "Life Is Not a Stage," Henderson reveals that she had an affair in the late 1960s with then-New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay and subsequently picked up a sexually transmitted disease from him.

According to Henderson, she was cheating on her husband, and got cozy with Lindsay, who was cheating on his wife.

They did what they did, and after the brief affair, Henderson said she was shocked to wake up with "little black things" crawling over her bed and body.

What she had was pubic lice, also known as the crabs.

I guess this affair has given new meaning to the term "Fun City," as New York City was known by then, before it became "The Big Apple."

In the book, Henderson denies an affair with Brady Bunch co-star Barry Williams. She said something to the affect that she knew he had a crush on her, but it was never acted upon.

Henderson, now 77, also talks about her abusive childhood--doesn't it seem every actor grew up in an abusive household?--and the ups and downs of her long career.

Back to Lindsay: he can't defend himself, since he died several years ago, so I guess Henderson can say whatever she wants to say, without any retribution.

Lindsay was the mayor of New York City during its "Mod" era, when unions were set to strike at a moment's notice, and the city literally was on the precipice of disaster. It never reached that point, but the policies set in place by his administration led to New York City's failures into the 1970s and beyond.

He was a good looking guy, but he was a horrid mayor, although he was quite popular with the populace, and evidently with the ladies too.